Saturday, 15 April 2017

West Bengal CM calls Teesta Bengals lifeline, says it cannot be taken away

"There is very little water in Teesta River, it is our lifeline, the lifeline of North Bengal", Banerjee was quoted as saying.

She said other trans-national rivers could be diverted to attend to Bangladesh's water needs. I am willing to look at any alternate proposal to address your issues.

So far from what we have gleaned from news reports it seems that the area where Bangladesh will benefit is the energy sector where India will be supplying at least 600 MW of electricity in addition to the 500 MW it has already committed to.

Thus, while we think that the visit of our Prime Minister will add a new dimension to our bilateral relations we would hope that the issue of Teesta sharing will be resolved soon. Meanwhile, no pact on Teesta was signed between the two nations.

When Hasina ends her India trip, Bangladesh's Assistant High Commission in Tripura, the Dhaka and Agartala chapters of "Friends of Bangladesh", and the Agartala Press Club will observe the first Bangladeshi government in Agartala.

A West Bengal official said on Sunday that the offer has been formally made in a letter to the Centre after instructions from the chief minister. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our continuing efforts on Teesta.

The Teesta River runs through both Bengal and Bangladesh and if a treaty is signed it would allowed for equal share of water.

Sonia made the pledge while made a courtesy call on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was in India on a four-day official visit. She signed as many as 22 deals which include defence, civil nuclear cooperation, cyber security, and business and investment.